“Hello, Morrigan,” Mercy said.
Both girls spun around, and Morrigan’s eyes lit up as she spotted Mercy. “Hi, Mercy. Did you see what I did to her hair?” The girl pointed at the screen, delight on her face. She wore flannel pajamas patterned with cat faces, similar to the pajamas Jenny wore. Both sported matching braids, and Mercy wondered if they’d done each other’s hair.
Mercy had done that with Rose.
“Does she have to leave now?” Jenny asked, her eyes pleading for Mercy not to take away her playmate. Morrigan’s expression mirrored her new friend’s.
“No. I’m just here to visit and see how you’re doing.” Clearly she’s in a good spot. A weight lifted from her shoulders; she hadn’t realized she carried stress about Morrigan’s safety.
“Have you heard from my mom?” Morrigan asked.
“Not yet.”
“Okay.” Morrigan turned to Jenny. “Let’s find her a ball gown.”
Mercy exchanged a look with Hannah. No anxiety in that child.
The two of them headed back toward the front door. “She’s amazingly well adjusted,” said Hannah. “I’ve had a number of temporary fosters and usually they’re emotional and scared. It’s almost eerie that she’s doing so well.”
“Do you think she’s avoiding the feelings?”
Hannah thought. “I don’t think so,” she said slowly. “She was very open with her sorrow about her grandmother, and she exudes confidence about her mother’s return. I think she’s simply a resilient, well-grounded kid.”
“Knows how to roll with the punches.” Mercy approved. Morrigan had held it together quite well during their emotional hours together. Mercy’s admiration for the child grew.
Along with her determination to find the mother.
She thanked the kind woman, who emphasized that Mercy was welcome to return at any time, but Hannah’s gaze faltered as the sentence left her mouth.
Unspoken words hung between them; if Mercy had to return, it meant there was a major issue with Morrigan’s mother.
TEN
Mercy drove to the medical examiner’s office, pleased that Morrigan was in a good place.
Eddie had texted her as she left Hannah’s home, asking her to meet him and Ava at the examiner’s office. The ME wanted to discuss her findings and had specifically asked if Mercy could be present since she’d been at the death.
Her cell phone rang through the speakers in her Tahoe as she drove. Mercy glanced at the screen on her dashboard. Truman.
Happy butterflies fluttered in her stomach. At what point in a relationship does that feeling go away?
Truman filled up the lonely and vulnerable parts of her brain. The subtle scent of his aftershave, the shadow on his jaw every evening, the heaviness of his hand at her waist. It wasn’t all physical. Truman understood her; he got her. He’d seen her deepest fears and accepted them. She didn’t scare him.
She accepted the call. “Hey,” she said. “How’s your morning?”
“Interesting. Yours?”
She gave him a positive update on Morrigan.
“Did you meet the reporter from The Oregonian yesterday?” he asked in a restrained voice.
Mercy looked at her dashboard as if she could read Truman’s face. “I did. Ava later vouched for him. Why?”
“He paid me a visit and suggested that the investigators look into a mystery visitor at Judge Lake’s office. He claims someone was there one of the days before he died and it was kept off the visitor log. He said the judge’s assistant knows more than she’s told investigators.”
“Why did he tell you? That makes no sense. And how on earth would he know that?”
“Trust me, I asked the exact same questions and got convoluted answers. Let’s just say it makes sense in Brody’s head. Can you pass the tip on to Eddie?”
“I’m on my way to meet with him and Ava now.”
“Good. Gotta go. I love you,” he said in a low, warm voice infused with innuendo.
Her face flushed with heat and her smile broadened. “I love you too.”
It was easier to say those three little words to Truman now than it had been two months earlier. Mercy had struggled with the simple oral contract of commitment. In her head she’d believed it meant she was reliant on him. A tough situation, as she’d promised to never allow herself to rely on anyone. This independent philosophy was the core of everything she’d learned as a child of preppers. To her surprise she’d discovered that loving Truman made her more confident, fearless. After she ended his call, a piece of her longed for him with an urgency that still unnerved her. That need for another person.
The instant love she’d felt for Kaylie had emboldened her to take that plunge with Truman. Her heart had easily expanded to make room for her niece and then expanded again as she repaired fences with her formerly estranged family. Being deliberately cut off from her family had left her with an empty heart for years, but since she’d returned to Eagle’s Nest, she suddenly had a small crowd to care about.
It hadn’t weakened her foundation. She was stronger.
Her oldest brother, Owen, had finally accepted her return, and Mercy had quickly added his wife and children to her “my people” list.
The only holdout was her father. She suspected it was pride that kept him from speaking to her.
One day.
She parked and strode into the ME’s building, where she spotted Eddie and Ava in the waiting area. She greeted them and recounted her visit with Morrigan. “Anything new on Salome?”
Ava looked grim as she shook her head. “There’s been no activity on her cell phone for three days. She has one credit card, and it hasn’t been used in months.”
Suspicion weighed heavy in Mercy’s gut. “Do you think something has happened to her?”
“We were just talking about that,” said Eddie. “We can’t rule it out.”
“I don’t want to discover that she’s the third victim,” Ava stated. “But damn, it’s not looking good. People don’t just vanish.”
“People vanish all the time,” argued Eddie. “Especially out here. If they don’t want to be found, we won’t find them.”
“I can’t believe she’d leave her daughter behind,” countered Ava.
“Maybe she feels her disappearance is protecting the girl . . . leading a killer away,” suggested Eddie.
Mercy’s brain spun with the possibilities, but in her mind only one thing mattered right now. “That poor child. She needs her mother.” What will happen to Morrigan if Salome doesn’t come back?
“Let’s hope we’re wrong. We’ll handle it if it comes to that,” Ava stated briskly, shutting down the topic.
Eddie cleared his throat. “We did find out that so far none of the knives tested positive for poison or blood. The lab was surprised to find how clean they were. Usually there’s something left on even the cleanest knives.”
“Maybe they’re never used,” suggested Mercy, remembering the rows and rows of blades. “Perhaps they’re truly a collector’s hoard.”
“I saw the pictures,” Ava said. “I’ve never encountered anything like that. It was creepy.”
Mercy silently agreed. “Say, Truman called me and said your reporter friend claims that Judge Lake had a mystery visitor at his office one of the days before he died. Brody claims this person was deliberately left off the logs and that the judge’s assistant might be covering it up.”